Disk drive

ABSTRACT

A disk drive apparatus according to the present invention includes a horizontal guide mechanism and a vertical guide mechanism, which are disposed between a frame ( 10 ) and a slider ( 60 ) for slidably guiding the slider ( 60 ). The horizontal guide mechanism includes an engaging piece ( 69   b ) disposed in at least one of the frame ( 10 ) and the slider ( 60 ) and an engaging hole ( 24   a ), which is disposed in the other and is engaged with the engaging piece ( 69   b ). One of the frame ( 10 ) and the slider ( 60 ), in which the engaging piece ( 69   b ) is formed, is made of a metallic sheet material while the engaging piece ( 69   b ) is formed by bending part of the metallic sheet material.  
     Forming the engaging piece ( 69   b ) by bending part of the metallic sheet material in such a manner simplifies the structure of the disk drive apparatus according to the present invention so that the fabrication is facilitated, enabling fabricating cost to be reduced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a disk drive apparatus forrecording and reproducing data using a floppy disk as a recordingmedium.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In such a disk drive apparatus, a member called a slider, whichis slidable in a lengthwise direction, and a member called a carrier,which holds a floppy disk therewith and moves up and down, are combinedwith each other so as to be mounted in a frame.

[0003] The slider is allowed to slide only in the lengthwise directionrelative to the bottom surface of the frame and is restricted fromvertical moving and horizontal moving other than in the slidingdirection. For this purpose, between the frame and the slider, there areprovided a vertical guide mechanism for restricting the verticalmovement of the slider and a horizontal guide mechanism for restrictingthe horizontal movement of the slider other than in the slidingdirection.

[0004] In conventional disk drive apparatuses, there are a type in thatthe slider is arranged between the frame and the carrier and anothertype in that the carrier is arranged between the frame and the slider.The bottom surface of the slider closely opposes the bottom surface ofthe frame, especially in the former.

[0005] In a structure of the disk drive apparatus, in which the bottomsurface of the slider closely opposes the bottom surface of the frame,the above-mentioned vertical guide mechanism and horizontal guidemechanism are separately arranged between the bottom surface of theslider and the bottom surface of the frame.

[0006] On the bottom surface of the frame, however, there are othervarious elements such as a disk-driving motor and amagnetic-head-driving mechanism, which are mounted thereon -at highdensities. Also, since a positioning part of a floppy disk is formed bycut-up, etc., it is difficult to secure a space for separately arrangingboth the vertical guide mechanism and horizontal guide mechanism, sothat this point has been one factor to reduce the degree of designfreedom.

[0007] Moreover, when on the bottom surface of the frame, the verticalguide mechanism for restricting the vertical movement of the slider isarranged, there has been a problem of deflection produced on the bottomsurface of the frame due to the load exerted on the bottom surface ofthe frame in the vertical direction.

[0008] Also, the disk drive apparatus using a floppy disk as a recordingmedium is recently at maturity as a product and the reduction ofmanufacturing cost is strongly demanded from the market, so thatsimplifying the structure to reduce fabrication cost has been animportant object in the product development.

[0009] In view of the situations described above, the present inventionhas been made, and it is an object thereof to improve the structure ofguides for restricting the movement of a slider so as to increase thedegree of design freedom while reducing fabrication cost.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0010] A disk drive apparatus according to the present inventioncomprises a frame (10) having a frame bottom surface and frame sidewalls which rise from both sides of the frame bottom surface, a slider(60) having a slider bottom surface and slider side walls which risefrom both sides of the slider bottom surface, a carrier (70) which holdsa disk and which is supported by the slider (60) so as to be movable inthe vertical direction, and a horizontal guide mechanism and a verticalguide mechanism, which are arranged between the frame (10) and theslider (60) for slidably guiding the slider (60).

[0011] Wherein the slider (60) is slidable relative to the frame (10) inthe front and rear direction. The horizontal guide mechanism is amechanism for restricting the slider (60) so that it does not movehorizontally relative to the frame bottom surface other than in thesliding direction. The vertical guide mechanism is a mechanism forrestricting the slider (60) so that it does not move vertically relativeto the frame bottom surface.

[0012] In a disk drive apparatus according to the present invention, thehorizontal guide mechanism comprises an engaging piece (69 b) disposedin at least one of the frame (10) and the slider (60), and an engaginghole (24 a) which is disposed in the other and is engaged with theengaging piece (69 b).

[0013] In a disk drive apparatus according to the present invention, oneof the frame (10) and the slider (60)that has the engaging piece (69 b)formed therein is made of a metallic sheet material while the engagingpiece (69 b) is made by bending a part of the metallic sheet material.

[0014] In such a manner, in a disk drive apparatus according to thepresent invention, the structure is simplified in forming the engagingpiece (69 b) by bending part of the metallic sheet material, so that thefabrication becomes easy enabling fabricating cost to be reduced.

[0015] Also, the engaging hole (24 a) comprises a plurality of guideparts for restricting the movement of the engaging piece (69 b) in atleast two horizontal directions other than the sliding direction of theslider (60). The engaging piece (69 b) is engaged with the guide partson both surfaces of the metallic sheet material so that the movement ofthe engaging piece (69 b) in at least two horizontal directions isrestricted.

[0016] In such a manner, since the engaging piece (69 b) is guided onboth surfaces of the metallic sheet material with the plurality of guideparts formed in the engaging hole (24 a), the horizontal guiding of theslider (60) can be achieved without rattling due to the simplestructure, enabling the slider (60) to slide smoothly.

[0017] Furthermore, the engaging piece (69 b) may preferably comprise anextending part (69 c) in the thickness direction of the metallic sheetmaterial for adjusting clearances to the plurality of guide part. Byonly forming such the extending part (69 c), the rattling between theguide part of the engaging hole (24 a) and the engaging piece (69 b) canbe further prevented in high accuracies, enabling the smooth sliding tobe compensated.

[0018] The slider (60) may comprise an eject button (67) mountedthereon. To the eject button (67), a pressing force is applied accordingto pressing operation. The rattling of the slider (60) is mainly causedand produced by the pressing force applied to the eject button (67).Then, the engaging hole (24 a) and the engaging piece (69 b) having theextending part (69 c) are arranged in the vicinity of the eject button(67) so that the rattling of the slider (60) can be efficientlyprevented.

[0019] The engaging hole (24 a) is formed on the frame bottom surface,and the engaging piece (69 b) is formed on the slider bottom surface.That is, the vertical guide mechanism is arranged between the frame sidewall and the slider side wall.

[0020] A disk drive apparatus according to the present invention maycomprise an urging member (68) for urging the slider (60). The urgingmember (68) is retained with an urging-member retainer (22) formed fromthe frame (10) by cut-up. In association with this structure, theengaging hole (24 a) may also be formed so as to continue from anopening formed in the frame (10) following as the urging-member retainer(22) is formed by cut-up.

[0021] By the structure, since the engaging hole (24 a) can be formed byfollowing as the urging-member retainer (22) is formed by cut-up, thetime for independently forming the engaging hole (24 a) is saved,enabling fabricating man-hour to be reduced.

[0022] In addition, “the engaging hole (24 a) is formed so as tocontinue from an opening formed in the frame (10) when the urging-memberretainer (22) is formed by cut-up” means not only forming the engaginghole (24 a) by elongating or expanding the opening but also using theopening itself as the engaging hole (24 a).

[0023] In a disk drive apparatus according to the present invention, theframe (10) is provided with a positioning part (17 a) formed by cut-upfor positioning and supporting a disk. In association with thisstructure, the engaging hole (18) may also be formed so as to continuefrom an opening formed when the positioning part (17 a) is formed bycut-up. The slider (60) may also be provided with an engaging piece (64)formed to be engaged with the engaging hole (18), so that the horizontalguide mechanism can also be configured with these engaging hole (18) andengaging piece (64).

[0024] By such configurations, since the engaging hole (18) can beformed following forming the positioning part (17 a) by cut-up, the timefor independently forming the engaging hole (18) is saved, enablingfabricating man-hour to be reduced.

[0025] In addition, also in this case, “the engaging hole (18) is formedso as to continue from an opening formed in the frame (10) when thepositioning part (17 a) is formed by cut-up” means not only forming theengaging hole (18) by elongating or expanding the opening but also usingthe opening itself as the engaging hole (18).

[0026] The vertical guide mechanism may be preferably arranged betweenthe frame side wall and the slider side wall. The vertical guidemechanism may be configured of a groove (16) disposed on the frame sidewall and an engaging part (62) disposed on the slider side wall so as tobe engaged with the groove (16).

[0027] By such a configuration, the vertical guide mechanism need not beformed on the frame bottom surface, and the structure of the framebottom wall is thereby simplified, enabling the degree of design freedomto be increased.

[0028] That is, as described above, on the frame bottom surface, variouselements such as the driving motor (303) and the magnetic-head-drivingmechanism (200) are mounted at high densities, and the positioning part(17 a) is formed by cut-up as well, so that the structure is generallyliable to be complicated. Forming the vertical guide mechanism bykeeping away from such the frame bottom surface enables the structure ofthe frame bottom surface to be simplified at least in comparison with aconventional disk drive apparatus.

[0029] By arranging the vertical guide mechanism on the frame side wall,the load is exerted in parallel to the surface of the frame side wall,so that there is no possibility of deflection of the frame due to theload.

[0030] Furthermore, a disk drive apparatus according to the presentinvention may comprise the following structures in addition to thehorizontal guide mechanism of the slider (60) and the structureassociated with the horizontal guide mechanism.

Front Panel

[0031] In the disk drive apparatus further comprising the driving motor(303) mounted on the bottom wall of the frame (10) for rotationallydriving a disk, the frame (10) having an opening at the front end, and afront panel (50) to be fitted to the opening (63) of the frame (10) andhaving a disk-insertion opening for inserting the disk into the frame(10), retaining pieces (56) are formed in the both sides of the frontpanel (50) or in the vicinities thereof to be fitted and retained to theinternal surface sides of the frame side-walls, while engaging parts(14) are formed on regions of the internal surfaces of the side-walls ofthe frame (10), into which the retaining pieces (56) are fitted, andfurther the engaging part (14) is formed outward from aninternal-surface-flat region on the internal side-wall of the frame(10).

[0032] In addition, the internal-surface-flat region on the internalside-wall of the frame (10) is defined to be a raw region withoutunevenness due to pressing process, etc., on the internal side-wall ofthe frame (10).

[0033] In such a manner, only the region (engaging part (14)) of theinternal surface of the side-wall of the frame (10), into which theretaining piece (56) is fitted, is extended outward from theinternal-surface-flat region on the internal side-wall of the frame(10), so that the width between the engaging parts of the front panel(50) can be increased without increasing the entire width of the frame(10), thereby enabling the disk insertion to be easy by increasing thewidth of the disk-insertion opening.

[0034] Specifically, for example, a recess protruding outward from theinternal surface may be formed on the side plate of the frame (10) andthe engaging part may be formed on the internal surface of the recess.Furthermore, the recess may be formed by pressing the side-wall of theframe (10).

[0035] When the retaining pieces (56) of the front panel (50) are formedto extend in the disk-insertion direction while the both side-edges ofthe disk-insertion opening (51) are arranged in the vicinities of theretaining pieces (56), even when the disk is askew inserted into thedisk-insertion opening (51) having the increased width, the frontend-corner of the disk comes in contact with the retaining piece (56) soas to realign the track into the proper direction, enablingmiss-insertion of the disk to be reduced.

Eject Button

[0036] In the disk drive apparatus further comprising an eject button(67) to be pressed with a finger when taking out the disk attached tothe slider (60) from the carrier (70), a first opening (10 g) and asecond opening (66 c) are formed at positions of the frame (10) and theslider (60) corresponding to the lower part of the eject button (67),respectively, and the eject button (67) can be taken out from the slider(60) by operating the eject button (67) from the back side of the bottomwall of the frame (10) via the first and second openings (10 g) and (66c).

[0037] There may also be configured such that the eject button (67) isprovided with a pressing part to be pressed with a finger formed at thefront end; an engaging part (67 b) to be engaged with the slider (60)formed at the rear end; the slider (60) has a retainer (66 b) formedtherein; the engaging part (67 b) of the eject button (67) has anengaging hole (67 c) formed therein to be engaged with the retainer (66b) of the slider (60); and the engaging hole (67 c) has an engagementcanceling part (67 e) formed at rear end, so that the engagementcanceling part (67 e) formed in the engaging part (67 b) of the ejectbutton (67) can be operated via the first opening (10 g) and the secondopening (66 c) respectively formed in the frame (10) and the slider(60).

[0038] Furthermore, in a disk drive apparatus further comprising a lowercover (30) disposed in the back side of the bottom wall of the frame(10) to be engaged with the frame (10), the lower cover (30) is providedwith a third opening (32 a) formed at a position corresponding to thelower side of the first opening (10 g) and the second opening (66 c)respectively formed in the frame (10) and the slider (60), and the ejectbutton (67) can be also taken out from the slider (60) by operating theeject button (67) from the back side of the lower cover (30) via thefirst, second, and third openings.

[0039] By these configurations, the eject button (67) can be readilytaken out of a sliding plate from the outside of the apparatus withoutremoving an upper cover (40) and a carrier (70).

Circuit Board

[0040] In a disk drive apparatus further comprising a magnetic head unit(100) for recording data on and reproducing data from a disk, ahead-driving mechanism (200) for driving the magnetic head unit (100), adisk-driving-motor unit (300) including a driving motor (303) fordriving the disk at high speed and a motor-driving circuit for drivingthe driving motor (303), a main control-circuit-board (420) mounting amotor-control circuit for outputting a predetermined signal at least tothe motor-driving circuit, and a control circuit of the head-drivingmechanism (200), thereon, and a sensor circuit-board (410) mountingsensors for detecting required information of the disk thereon, and alsocomprising the main control-circuit-board (420) and the sensorcircuit-board (410) mounted on the back side of the bottom wall of theframe (10), the main control-circuit-board (420) and the sensorcircuit-board (410) are separately configured.

[0041] In such a manner, by separately forming the maincontrol-circuit-board (420) and the sensor circuit-board (410), eachboard is miniaturized and the reduction in positioning accuracies due toprocessing errors and expansion and contraction of members can besuppressed, so that each board can be mounted on the frame (10) in aproper state with small strain. Moreover, the respective boards need notbe mounted on the same plane, and can be mounted on the frame (10) atpositions with different heights, enabling the degree of design freedomof mounting members on the frame (10) to be increased.

[0042] Also, the main control-circuit-board (420) and the sensorcircuit-board (410) may be formed in respective shapes havingsubstantially the same width and being close to rectangles with smallunevenness.

[0043] In general, a parent material, from which the boards are cut-out,is provided in a rectangular shape processed in advance. Therefore, bycutting out the main control-circuit-board (420) and the sensorcircuit-board (410) configured as above from the parent material in thesame width so as to adjoin each other in the front and rear, the parentmaterial waste can be reduced to the utmost, enabling material cost tobe reduced.

[0044] For example, the main control-circuit-board (420) may be mountedon the back of the bottom wall of the frame (10) in the rear side whilethe sensor circuit-board (410) may be mounted on the back of the bottomwall of the frame (10) in the front side. Then, the maincontrol-circuit-board (420) and the sensor circuit-board (410) can beelectrically connected together with lead wire (422).

[0045] In the disk drive apparatus using a floppy disk (1) as arecording medium, it is preferable that the sensor circuit-board (410)comprise a write-protect-detecting switch (411) disposed to oppose awrite-protect detector formed in at least one side-rear-edge of thefloppy disk (1) for detecting whether the floppy disk (1) iswrite-protected or not, and a disk-type-identifying switch (412)disposed to oppose a disk-type detector formed at the otherside-rear-edge of the floppy disk (1) for identifying the type of floppydisk, these mounted thereon.

[0046] Since these switches are disposed together in the vicinity of thefront end of the frame (10) in accordance with the standard of thefloppy disk drive apparatus, even when these switches are mounted on asingle circuit board, the board shape does not become complicated and itis rather effective in improved work-efficiency because the assemblyman-hour is reduced compared to a case when mounting on individualboards.

[0047] Moreover, when the sensor circuit-board (410) is configured to befixed to the frame (10) only at one arbitrary position, internal stressis difficult to be produced by allowing the circuit board deformation tosome extent even when miss-mounting, etc. In this case, it is preferablethat at the front on the bottom wall of the frame (10), supporting parts(10 e and 10 f) be formed for supporting the sensor circuit-board (410)in a flexible state so as to protect the both end sides of the sensorcircuit-board (410).

Peripheral Structure of Connectors

[0048] In a disk drive apparatus further comprising the magnetic headunit (100) for recording data on and reproducing data from a disk, thehead-driving mechanism (200) for driving the magnetic head unit (100),the disk-driving-motor unit (300) including the driving motor (303) fordriving the disk at high speed and the motor-driving circuit for drivingthe driving motor (303), the main control-circuit-board (420) mountingthe motor-control circuit for outputting a predetermined signal at leastto the motor-driving circuit, and the control circuit of thehead-driving mechanism (200), and the lower cover (30) attached to theback side on the bottom wall of the frame (10) so as to cover the maincontrol-circuit-board (420), and also comprising connectors arranged inthe main control-circuit-board (420), restricting parts (10 i) arearranged on the bottom wall of the frame (10) for restricting anabnormal mounting state of external connectors to be connected to theconnectors.

[0049] When the connectors includes an interface connector (421 a) forelectrically connecting to external equipment, and a power supplyconnector (421 b) for connecting to a power supply, it is preferablethat the restricting parts (10 i) be arranged in the vicinities of theinterface connector (421 a) and the power supply connector (421 b)disposed on the side walls of the frame (10), respectively.

[0050] The restricting parts for restricting an abnormal mounting stateof external connectors may be arranged on the side walls of the frame(10) and on the lower cover (30). Moreover, the restricting parts may beintegrally formed with the side walls of the frame (10) and with thelower cover (30).

[0051] When the external connector is connected to the connectorarranged in the main control-circuit-board (420), proper mounting can beachieved with the restricting part (10 i) formed on the side wall of theframe (10). Also, since both sides of the connector arranged on maincontrol-circuit-board (420) are restricted by restricting parts (10 iand 30 d) formed on the side walls of the frame (10) and on the lowercover (30), the external connector can be further securely connected tothe connector arranged in the main control-circuit-board (420).

Protecting Cover for Stepping Motor

[0052] In a disk drive apparatus further comprising an upper cover (40)attached to the frame (10) so as to cover the top surface of the frame(10), the magnetic head unit (100) for recording data on and reproducingdata from a disk, the head-driving mechanism (200) including a steppingmotor (201) for driving the magnetic head unit (100), the maincontrol-circuit-board (420) having the connector for electricallyconnecting to the outside, and a connecting member for electricallyconnecting between the stepping motor (201) and the maincontrol-circuit-board (420), the apparatus is provided with a protectingcover (41) for covering the upper cover (40) and the stepping motor(201) while the upper part of the connector is exposed outside from therear end of the upper cover (40).

[0053] The protecting cover (41) may be integrally formed with the uppercover (40). When the disk drive apparatus has the lower cover (30)mounted on the back side of the bottom wall of the frame (10) so as tocover the main control-circuit-board (420), one end of the protectingcover (41) may also be engaged with the lower cover (30).

[0054] By providing the protecting cover (41) in such a manner, there isno possibility of damaging the stepping motor (201) and the connectingmember during connecting operation to the connector.

Supporting Structure of Magnetic Head

[0055] In the disk drive apparatus further comprising the magnetic headunit (100) for recording data on and reproducing data from a diskattached to the frame (10) and held by the carrier (70), the magnetichead unit (100) comprises a lower head-supporting member (111) having alower magnetic head (110) fixed to the front end and a base (113) formedat the base end, and an upper head-supporting member (121) having anupper magnetic head (120) fixed to the front end, and in the upperhead-supporting member (121), while the base end thereof is fixed to thebase (113) via a leaf spring member (130), rear ends of legs extendingfrom the base end are rotatably arranged on the base (113), and theapparatus is provided with pressing means (135 and 136) for urging thelegs toward the base (113) by directly making contact with the rear endsof the legs.

[0056] By this structure, since the rear ends of the legs in the upperhead-supporting member (121) are firmly pressed onto the base (113) byurging forces of the pressing means, even when vibration and impact areapplied thereto from outside, there may be no possibilities of risingand displacements of the rear ends of the legs which are rotationalfulcrums.

[0057] When the pressing means (135 and 136) are to be pressing springparts formed on a part of the leaf spring member (130), the number ofparts is not increased so as to be economical. Also, when the legs areconfigured by first and second legs (125 and 126), which respectivelyextend from both sides of the base end of the upper head-supportingmember (121) in parallel with each other, it is preferable that each legbe urged toward the base (113) with the pressing spring part by formingthe pressing spring parts on the leaf spring member (130) correspondingto the first and second legs (125 and 126).

[0058] Furthermore, when a push-up lever (123) receiving the load forpushing-up the upper head-supporting member (121) is formed at the edgeof the upper head-supporting member (121) in the side that the first leg(125) exists across the central axis of the upper-head support member(121) as the boundary, there is a possibility that the rising of thefirst leg (125) cannot be blocked due to the torsion torque produced inthe leaf spring member (130) when the push-up load is applied to thepush-up lever (123). In such a case, it is preferable that theinclination of the upper magnetic head (120) due to the rising of thefirst leg (125) be corrected by elongating the rear end of the secondleg (126), which is the other rotational fulcrum, rearward from the rearend of the first leg (125) by a required length.

[0059] The setting of the length in elongating the rear end of thesecond leg (126) rearward may be adjusted by appropriately repeatingtrial-and-error while confirming the position of the upper magnetic head(120).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an exterior of a disk driveapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0061]FIG. 2 is an assembly view of the disk drive apparatus accordingto the embodiment.

[0062]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in that variousstructural elements other than a slider, a carrier, and an upper coverare assembled into a frame.

[0063]FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the frame.

[0064]FIG. 4B is a plan view of the frame.

[0065]FIG. 5A is a plan view of a disk drive motor unit.

[0066]FIG. 5B is a side view of the disk drive motor unit.

[0067]FIG. 5I is a perspective view of the disk drive motor unit.

[0068]FIG. 6A is a plan view of a lower cover.

[0069]FIG. 6B is a side view of the lower cover.

[0070]FIG. 6C is a perspective view of the lower cover.

[0071]FIG. 7A is a front view of a front panel.

[0072]FIG. 7B is a side view of the front panel.

[0073]FIG. 7C is a bottom plan view of the front panel.

[0074]FIG. 7D is a perspective view of the front panel.

[0075]FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view at the line A-A of FIG. 7A.

[0076]FIG. 9 is a right side-view showing a state that the front panelis mounted in the frame and at the front end of the lower cover.

[0077]FIG. 10A is a front view of the frame and the lower cover viewedfrom the front end.

[0078]FIG. 10B is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 10A.

[0079]FIG. 11A is a plan view of the slider.

[0080]FIG. 11B is a side view of the slider.

[0081]FIG. 11C is a perspective view of the slider.

[0082]FIG. 11D is an enlarged sectional view at the line B-B of FIG. 11Ashowing the slider.

[0083]FIG. 11E is an enlarged perspective view showing an engaging pieceof the slider.

[0084]FIG. 12A is a plan view of the carrier.

[0085]FIG. 12B is a side view of the carrier.

[0086]FIG. 12C is a perspective view of the carrier.

[0087]FIG. 13 is an assembly view of the frame showing a state beforethe slider and the carrier are mounted therein.

[0088]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the frame showing a state afterthe slider is mounted therein.

[0089]FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the frame showing a state afterthe carrier is mounted therein.

[0090]FIG. 16A is a plan view of a supporting piece for supporting afloppy disk from the lower part showing the formative portion thereof.

[0091]FIG. 16B is a longitudinal sectional view of the supporting piecefor supporting a floppy disk from the lower part showing the formativeportion thereof.

[0092]FIG. 17A is a plan view of an eject button.

[0093]FIG. 17B is a front view of the eject button.

[0094]FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing the positional relationshipbetween the eject button, the slider, the frame, and the lower cover.

[0095]FIG. 19A is a plan view of an open-and-close lever showing closingoperation thereof.

[0096]FIG. 19B is a plan view of the open-and-close lever showingopening operation thereof.

[0097]FIG. 20A is a plan view of a magnetic head unit.

[0098]FIG. 20B is a side view of the magnetic head unit.

[0099]FIG. 20C is a perspective view of the magnetic head unit.

[0100]FIG. 20D is an enlarged right side-view of the region I of FIG.20A.

[0101]FIG. 21 is a bottom plan view of an upper head-supporting member.

[0102]FIG. 22 is a side view of the upper head-supporting member.

[0103]FIG. 23 is a side view of the upper head-supporting member in araised state.

[0104]FIG. 24A is a plan view of a leaf spring member.

[0105]FIG. 24B is a front view of the leaf spring member.

[0106]FIG. 24C is a side view of the leaf spring member.

[0107]FIG. 25A is a plan view of a main control-circuit-board.

[0108]FIG. 25B is a plan view of a sensor-circuit-board.

[0109]FIG. 25C is a perspective view of the main control-circuit-board.

[0110]FIG. 25D is a perspective view of the sensor-circuit-board.

[0111]FIG. 26A is a bottom plan view of each circuit board shown inFIGS. 25A to 25D in a mounted state on a frame bottom plate.

[0112]FIG. 26B is an enlarged front view of the region II of FIG. 26Aviewed in the arrow X direction.

[0113]FIG. 26C is an enlarged side view of the region II of FIG. 26Aviewed in the arrow Y direction.

[0114]FIG. 27 is a plan view of each circuit board shown in FIGS. 25A to25D showing a layout on a parent material.

[0115]FIG. 28 is a rear elevational view of the disk drive apparatus forshowing a restricting part of an external connector.

[0116]FIG. 29 is a plan view of the disk drive apparatus for showing therestricting part of the external connector.

[0117]FIG. 30 is a bottom plan view of the disk drive apparatus forshowing the restricting part of the external connector.

[0118]FIG. 31 is a rear elevational view of the disk drive apparatus forshowing another structure associated with the restricting part of theexternal connector.

[0119]FIG. 32A is a plan view of the upper cover having a protectingcover formed therein for covering a stepping motor, etc.

[0120]FIG. 32B is a plan view of the upper cover having the protectingcover formed therein for covering the stepping motor, etc.

[0121]FIG. 32C is a front view of the upper cover having the protectingcover formed therein for covering the stepping motor, etc.

[0122]FIG. 33A is a plan view of the lower cover having a clampingtongue-piece formed therein.

[0123]FIG. 33B is a side view of the lower cover having the clampingtongue-piece formed therein.

[0124]FIG. 33C is a front view of the lower cover having the clampingtongue-piece formed therein.

[0125]FIG. 34 is a rear elevational view of the disk drive apparatushaving the upper cover shown in FIGS. 32A to 32C and the lower covershown in FIGS. 33A to 33C, mounted thereon.

[0126]FIG. 35A is a plan view of a floppy disk showing a state a shutteris closed.

[0127]FIG. 35B is a plan view of the floppy disk showing a state theshutter is open.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0128] A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

[0129] In the embodiments the structure is shown, in which the presentinvention is applied to a disk drive apparatus (FDD) using a floppy diskas a recording medium.

Summary of Recording Medium

[0130] A floppy desk 1, as shown in FIGS. 35A and 35B, comprises a casebody 2, a magnetic-disk board 3, and a shutter 4, and the circularmagnetic-disk board 3 is rotatably accommodated inside the case body 2.On the front top surface of the case body 2, an exposure opening isformed, and the shutter 4 is mounted in the front of the case body 2 soas to open and close the exposure opening. That is, the shutter 4 has acut-out window 4 a and is slidable in the lateral direction, and asshown in FIG. 35B, by lateral sliding (in the left), the cut-out window4 a is arranged in a position corresponding to that of the exposureopening 2 a of the case body 2 so as to expose the magnetic-disk board3. Also, the shutter 4 is urged by a spring member (not shown) in theright direction of FIG. 35A so as to close the exposure opening 2 a.

[0131] In both sides on the back surface of the case body 2, positioningholes 5 are formed at front predetermined positions so as to be engagedwith positioning projections 67 a, which will be described later (seeFIGS. 16A and 16B), and to be positioned and fixed within equipment. Atone side-rear-edge of the case body 2, a write-protect detector 6 isformed. In the detector 6, a slide tab 7 is arranged, and any ofwrite-protect and writable modes can be selected by lengthwise movingthe slide tab 7. At the other side-rear-edge of the case body 2, a disktype-detector 8 for distinguishing the type (2HD or 2DD) of the floppydisk 1 is arranged. Incidentally, a hole is formed on the detector ofthe type 2HD floppy disk 1 while the detecting hole is not formed on thetype 2DD floppy disk 1. Furthermore, a front edge corner of the casebody is cut off and tapered to form a wrong-insertion protector 9. Inaddition, the entire structure of the floppy disk 1 described above isstandardized.

Entire Structure of Apparatus

[0132]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the exterior of the diskdrive apparatus according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is an assembly viewof the disk drive apparatus. In addition, according to the embodiment,as shown in FIG. 1, it is defined that the front is the side in which afront panel 50 is mounted and the front-and-rear direction is shown bythe arrow in the drawing.

[0133] The disk drive apparatus according to the embodiment comprises aframe 10 forming a skeleton, a lower cover 30 for covering the bottom ofthe frame 10, and an upper cover 40 for covering the top of the frame10, and a front panel 50 to be mounted in the front end opening of theframe 10, so as to form a casing structure shown in FIG. 1.

[0134] Moreover, in the frame 10, while a member called a slider 60 inFIG. 2 is mounted movably in the front-and-rear direction, a membercalled a carrier 70 is mounted movably in the vertical direction in acombined state with the slider 60.

[0135] These slider 60 and carrier 70 have functions of loading thefloppy disk 1, which is inserted from a disk-insertion hole 51 formed onthe front panel 50, onto a suitable position and of ejecting it from thedisk-insertion hole 51.

[0136] In the frame 10, various kinds of structural elements, which areneeded for magnetic recording and reproducing, such as a magnetic headunit 100, a head driving mechanism 200, a disk-drive-motor unit 300, asensor circuit-board 410, and a main control-circuit-board 420 areassembled.

[0137]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state of various structuralelements other than the slider, the carrier, and the upper cover, whichare assembled in the frame; FIGS. 4A and 4B are drawings showing theframe.

[0138] As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the frame 10 is made of a metallicsheet material, and side walls 10 b rise from both-side-edges of abottom wall 10 a forming the frame bottom surface, while a back board 10c rises from the rear-end edge of the bottom wall 10 a. Inside the frame10 surrounded by these parts 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c, as shown in FIG. 3,the magnetic head unit 100 and the head driving mechanism 200 aremounted.

[0139] The head driving mechanism 200 comprises a stepping motor 201, ascrew 202, and a guide rod 203 (see FIG. 2).

[0140] The stepping motor 201 is fixed on the back board 10 c of theframe 10, and a rotational driving shaft of the motor 201 is the screw202. The screw 202 is a bar member having a spiral screw thread formedon the circumferential surface thereof, and the end thereof is supportedby a bearing 11 formed by rising from the bottom wall 10 a of the frame10. As shown in FIG. 3, the screw 202 is engaged with a driven part 114extending from one side-edge of the magnetic head unit 100.

[0141] Although not shown, the guide rod 203 is fixed on the bottom wall10 a of the frame 10 via a fixing board 204 (see FIG. 2). The guide rod203 is inserted into a through-hole 116 a (see FIG. 20D) of a guidedpart 116 extending from the other side-edge of the magnetic head unit100. The magnetic head unit 100 is thereby driven in the front-and-reardirection by being guided with the guide rod 203 following the rotationof the screw 202 by the stepping motor 201.

[0142] As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, also on the bottom wall 10 a of theframe 10, a motor-mounting part 12 is formed to open, and thedisk-drive-motor unit 300 is fixed to the motor-mounting part 12 withscrews from the bottom surface side (see FIG. 3).

[0143] In the disk-drive-motor unit 300, as shown in FIG. 5C, forexample, a motor base-board 302 and a disk-drive motor 303 are mountedon the top surface of a metallic motor-fixing plate 301. The disk-drivemotor 303 may use a general-use motor manufactured by a motormanufacturer, for example.

[0144] In the disk-drive motor 303, a turntable 304 is controlled torotate at a high speed by a driving signal, which is input via the motorbase-board 302. The turntable 304 of the disk-drive motor 303, as shownin FIG. 3, is exposed in the top-surface side from the opening formed inthe motor-mounting part 12 of the frame 10.

[0145] On the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10, the sensor circuit-board410 and the main control-circuit-board 420, these which are shown FIG.2, are mounted in the bottom-surface side, and these circuit-board 410and 420 are protected by covering the surroundings with the lower cover30.

[0146]FIGS. 6A to 6C are drawings showing the lower cover, and as shownin these drawings, the lower cover 30 comprises a bottom plate 30 a,side plates 30 b formed by rising from both side-edges of the bottomplate 30 a, and a back plate 30 c formed by rising from the rear-endedge of the bottom plate 30 a.

[0147] The lower cover 30, as shown in FIG. 3, is fixed to the bottomwall 10 a of the frame 10 with screws from the back side. At this time,the upper regions of the side plates 30 b of the lower cover 30 arefitted to the lower regions of the side walls 10 b of the frame 10 fromthe outsides, so that the lower cover can be mounted to the frame 10without rattling.

[0148] The front-end part of the frame 10 and the lower cover 30 areopened, and into the opened front-end part, a shutter 52 and the frontpanel 50, these which are shown in FIG. 2, are fitted. The shutter 52 isrotatably mounted between the side walls 10 b of the frame 10 so as toopen and close the disk-insertion hole 51 formed on the front panel 50from the back side. The shutter 52 is always urged by a torsioncoil-spring 53 in the direction closing the disk-insertion hole 51 so asto prevent dust entering from the disk-insertion hole 51.

Front Panel

[0149]FIGS. 7A to 7D are drawings showing the front panel; FIG. 7A is afront view; FIG. 7B is a right side view; FIG. 7C is a bottom plan view;and FIG. 7D is a perspective view. FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional viewat the line A-A of FIG. 7A; FIG. 9 is a right side view showing a statethat the front panel is mounted in the front-end parts of the frame andthe lower cover. Furthermore, FIG. 10A is a front view of the frame andthe lower cover viewed from the front end side; and FIG. 10B is apartial enlarged view of FIG. 10A.

[0150] The front panel 50, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7D, is provided withthe disk-insertion hole 51 formed in the front, a slotted hole 54 forexposing an eject button 67 forward, which will be described later, andan LED-display window 55 for penetrating a light beam of an LED 414,which is arranged on the sensor circuit-board 410 (see FIG. 26A, forexample).

[0151] The disk-insertion hole 51 extending laterally is needed to havean opening size as large as possible for enabling the floppy disk 1,which is an object to be inserted, to be easily inserted. At both sides'edges of the rear surface of the front panel 50, two retainer pieces 56of upper and lower for each side are formed to rearward extend, and thetip end of the retainer piece 56 is a hook-like retainer claw 56 a,which protrudes outwardly.

[0152] On the other hand, on the side walls 10 b of the frame 10,engaging parts 14 are formed at portions, into which the retainer pieces56 are to be fitted. The engaging part 14, as shown in FIG. 10B, isformed by pushing the side wall 10 b outwardly from the internal surfaceside, so that the internal surface 14 a of the engaging part 14 ispositioned outside from the surrounding internal surface. Moreover, theengaging part 14 is provided with an engaging hole 13 for retaining theretainer claw 56 a formed therein.

[0153] The upper retainer pieces 56 formed in the front panel 50 arefitted along the internal surface portions of the engaging parts 14,which are pushed outside so that the retainer claw 56 a formed at thetip end thereof is engaged with the engaging hole 13. The internalsurface 14 a of the engaging part 14, which is to be fitted with theretainer piece 56, is outwardly extended on the side wall 10 b of theframe 10 in such a manner, so that the width between the retainer pieces56 of the front panel 50 can also be increased.

[0154] Since these retainer pieces 56, as shown in FIG. 8, are formed inboth sides of the disk-insertion hole 51, when the width between theretainer pieces 56 is increased, the lateral width of the disk-insertionhole 51 can also be increased. As a result, the opening size of thedisk-insertion hole 51 is increased, enabling the floppy disk 1, whichis an object to be inserted, to be easily inserted.

[0155] In addition, the upper retainer pieces 56 formed in the frontpanel 50 are retained with engaging holes 31 formed on the side plates30 b of the lower cover 30 (see FIG. 9).

[0156] When the lateral width of the disk-insertion hole 51 isincreased, the floppy disk 1 may be inserted into the disk-insertionhole 51 in a bilaterally inclined position as it is. Then, according tothe embodiment, the apparatus is so configured that the retainer pieces56, as shown in FIG. 8, are formed in both sides of the disk-insertionhole 51, and when the floppy disk 1 is inserted into the disk-insertionhole 51 in a bilaterally inclined position, the disk 1 thereby comes incontact with the internal surfaces of the retainer pieces 56 so as to beguided in a proper insertion direction. That is, the retainer pieces 56have a function of guiding the floppy disk 1 to be inserted into thedisk-insertion hole 51.

[0157] Also, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 10A, the front end of the bottomwall 10 a of the frame 10 is slightly bent upwardly, and a bent part 10d is provided with two positioning holes 15 formed therein. The backsurface of the front panel 50 is provided with two positioningprojections 57 formed therein, which are fitted into the positioningholes 15 formed in the frame 10, so that while preventing the frame 10from rattling, when an excessive external force is exerted on the frontpanel 50, the positioning projections 57 ward off the external force soas to protect the retainer pieces 56.

Slider and Carrier

[0158]FIGS. 11A to 11E are drawings showing the slider; FIGS. 12A to 12Care drawings showing the carrier. FIG. 13 is an assembly view showing astate of the slider and the carrier before they are mounted in theframe; FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state that the slider ismounted in the frame; and FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a statethat the carrier is further mounted in the frame.

[0159] The slider 60 is made of a metallic sheet material, and as shownin FIGS. 11A to 11C, each of bottom plates 60 b extends rearward fromboth sides of a front plate 60 a, so that a U-shaped slider bottomsurface in a plan view is formed. The outside edge of each of the bottomplates 60 b is upwardly bent to form each of side plates 60 c. The sideplates 60 c form slider side walls.

[0160] Each side plate 60 c is provided with an inclined guide groove 61for moving up-and-down formed to extend obliquely downward and rearwardfrom the top-end edge.

[0161] In the vicinities of the front and rear ends of the top edge ofthe side plate 60 c, engaging pieces 62, which are structural elementsof a vertical guide mechanism, are formed to extend sideways,respectively. Furthermore, in a part of the bottom plate 60 b of theslider 60, an opening 63 is formed, and the edge of the opening 63 isdownwardly bent to form an engaging piece 64, which is a structuralelement of a horizontal guide mechanism (see FIG. 11D).

[0162] The opening 63 is a get-away hole for avoiding the interferencewith a support piece 17 formed from the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10by cut-up, which will be described later, and is formed incorrespondence to the support piece 17. According to the embodiment, theengaging piece 64 is formed by using part of the portion that is cut outfrom the slider 60 when forming the opening 63, enabling the structureof the slider 60 to be simplified.

[0163] Furthermore, the rear end portion of one side plate 60 c isdownwardly bent to form an engaging projection 65 for engaging with acam surface 83 a of an open-and-close lever 80, which will be describedlater.

[0164] On the other hand, in the side walls 10 b of the frame 10, asshown in FIGS. 4A and 14, support grooves 16 extending in the front andrear direction are formed. The slider 60 of the structure describedabove is mounted on the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 movably in thefront and rear direction in a state that the engaging pieces 62 areengaged with the support grooves 16. The support grooves 16 form thevertical guide mechanism together with the engaging pieces 62 of theslider 60. That is, by the engagement of the engaging pieces 62 with thesupport grooves 16, the vertical movement of the slider 60 is restrictedwhile the coming-off of the slider 60 from the frame 10 is prevented.

[0165] In such a manner, the vertical guide mechanism is configured ofthe engaging pieces 62 formed on the side plates 60 c of the slider 60and the support grooves 16 formed on the side walls 10 b of the frame10, so that it is not necessary to form the vertical guide mechanism onthe bottom wall 10 a of the frame, enabling the degree of design freedomto be increased.

[0166] On the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10, the support pieces 17for supporting the floppy disk 1 from the lower part are formed atpredetermined positions. The support piece 17, as shown in an enlargedview of FIG. 16A, is formed from the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 bycut-up so as to have an L-shaped section, and on the top surfacethereof, a projection 67 a (a positioning part) for positioning thefloppy disk 1 is formed.

[0167] Then, when the support piece 17 is formed from the bottom wall 10a of the frame 10 by cut-up in such a manner, on the bottom wall 10 a ofthe frame 10, an opening is formed.

[0168] According to the embodiment, this opening is used as an engaginghole 18 that is a structural element of the horizontal guide mechanism.That is, one side edge 18a of the engaging hole 18 is formed to linearlyextend in the front and rear direction, so that the engaging piece 64formed in the slider 60 is engaged with the side edge 18 a of theengaging hole 18, as shown in FIG. 16B. The slider 60 is therebyrestricted so that it does not move horizontally relative to the bottomwall 10 a of the frame 10 other than the sliding direction.

[0169] In such a manner, the opening formed in association with thesupport piece 17 is used as the engaging hole 18 that is a structuralelement of the horizontal guide mechanism, so that this kind engaginghole need not be particularly formed, resulting in a simplifiedstructure of the frame 10 which is easy to be fabricated.

[0170] A coil spring 68 as an urging member, as shown in FIG. 14, isstretched between the slider 60 and the frame 10 so that the slider 60is normally urged in the front direction due to a spring force of thecoil spring 68.

[0171] On the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10, retainers 21 and 22(retainers for an urging member) for retaining one end of the coilspring 68 are formed by cut-up (see FIGS. 4A and 4B), and in associationwith the cut-up of the retainers 21 and 22, openings are formed on thebottom wall 10 a, respectively.

[0172] According to the embodiment, these openings are used as engagingholes 23 and 24 that are structural elements of the horizontal guidemechanism. That is, the slider 60, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11C, isprovided with engaging pieces 69a and 69 b formed by the downwardbending together with the engaging piece 64, and the engaging pieces 69a and 69 b are engaged with the corresponding side edges of the engagingholes 23 and 24, respectively. The slider 60 is thereby restricted sothat it does not move horizontally relative to the bottom wall 10 a ofthe frame 10 other than the sliding direction.

[0173] Part of the engaging hole 24, which is one of the engaging holes,is formed to be a slit-like slotted groove 24 a continuously rearwardextending from an opening formed on the bottom wall 10 a in associationwith the cut-up of the retainer 22 (see FIG. 4B).

[0174] Furthermore, on the peripheral wall of the engaging piece 69 b tobe engaged with the slotted groove 24 a, as shown in an enlarged view ofFIG. 11E, an extending part 69 c is formed by a half-blanking process.Due to the extending part 69 c, the engaging piece 69 b has a shapehaving a bulge in the thickness direction. The extending part 69 c has afunction of adjusting the clearance between the slotted groove 24 a andthe engaging piece 69 b.

[0175] That is, adjusting the clearance between the slotted groove 24 aand the engaging piece 69 b with the extending part 69 c enables theslider 60 to be guided between both surfaces of the engaging piece 69 band both side edges of the slotted groove 24 a, resulting in thehorizontal guide mechanism with extremely small rattling.

[0176] In addition, the both side edges of the slotted groove 24 a formplural guiding sections for the engaging piece 69 b to restrict themovement of the slider 60 in at least two horizontal directions otherthan the sliding direction.

[0177] The horizontal guide mechanism formed of the above-mentionedslotted groove 24 a and the engaging piece 69 b having the extendingpart 69 c is arranged in the vicinity of the eject button 67, which willbe described later.

[0178] That is, to the eject button 67, a pressing force is applied inassociation with the pressing operation. The rattling of the slider 60is mainly produced due to the pressing force applied to the eject button67. Then, arranging the slotted groove 24 a and the engaging piece 69 bhaving the extending part 69 c in the vicinity of the eject button 67enables the rattling of the slider 60 to be efficiently prevented.

[0179] As shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C, the carrier 70 comprises a topplate 70 a and side plates 70 b, which extend downwardly from both sideedges of the top plate 70 a, respectively. Lower edges of the both sideplates 70 b are internally bent to form lower edges 70 c, which have afunction of simultaneously holding side edges of the floppy disk 1inserted into the lower side of the top plate 70 a from the front.

[0180] Each side plate 70 b of the carrier 70 has an engaging projection71 for moving up-and-down and an engaging projection 72 for obliquelyrelatively moving, which are respectively formed to protrude sideways.On the top plate 70 a of the carrier 70, a cut-out 73 is further formedfor avoiding the interference with the magnetic head unit 100, as shownin FIG. 15.

[0181] On the other hand, each of the side walls 10 b of the frame 10,as shown in FIG. 15, has a vertical guide groove 19, which extendsvertically. The carrier 70 described above is mounted within the frame10 in a state that the engaging projections 71 for moving up-and-downare engaged with the vertical guide grooves 19 while the engagingprojections 72 for obliquely relatively moving are engaged with theinclined guide grooves 61 (see FIGS. 11B and 11C).

[0182] As described above, the relative movement in the obliquelyvertical direction between the slider 60 and the carrier 70 mountedwithin the frame 10 can be performed along the inclined guide grooves61. However, since the engaging pieces 62 of the slider 60 are engagedwith the support grooves 16 of the frame 10 while the engagingprojections 71 of the carrier 70 are engaged with the vertical guidegrooves 19 of the frame 10, the relative movement in the obliquelyvertical direction is decomposed into the front-and-rear movement of theslider 60 and the vertical movement of the carrier 70.

[0183] In addition, the carrier 70 is provided with a torsion coilspring 74 mounted thereto and shown in FIG. 13, and the end portion ofthe torsion coil spring 74 enters within an insertion track for thefloppy desk 1 from a cut-out hole 75 (see FIG. 12C) formed in thecarrier 70. When the floppy desk 1 is inserted thereinto in a normalposition, the wrong-insertion protector 9 (see FIGS. 35A and 35B) of thefloppy desk 1, which is already described, pushes the end of the torsioncoil spring 74 out so as to enable the insertion; however when thefloppy desk 1 is to be inserted in an upside-down position, for example,the desk 1 is blocked by the end of the torsion coil spring 74 so as toprevent the wrong insertion.

Eject Button

[0184]FIGS. 17A and 17B are drawings showing an eject button; FIG. 18 isa drawing showing a state of the eject button mounted on the slider.

[0185] The eject button 67 is a resin molding, and as shown in FIGS. 17Aand 17B, it comprises a pressing part 67 a formed at the front end to bepressed with a finger and an engaging part 67 b formed at the rear endto be engaged with the slider 60, which will be described later. Theengaging part 67 b is provided with an engaging hole 67 c formed forengaging a retainer piece 66 b formed in the slider 60.

[0186] The engaging part 67 b is provided with anengagement-cancellation part 67 e formed at the rear end and having athin thickness and elasticity. Between the pressing part 67 a and theengaging part 67 b, a stepped part 67 d is formed. The stepped part 67 dabuts the wall of the slotted hole 54 (see FIG. 13), which is formed inthe front panel 50 and described above, so that the pressing part 67 aahead of the stepped part 67 d is configured so as to protrude from thefront surface of the front panel 50.

[0187] The engaging part 67 b is provided with fitting grooves 67 fformed to be fitted to a projection 66e (see FIG. 1C) of the slider 60,which will be described later, and an abutting part 17 g formed to abuta tongue part 66 a.

[0188] Referring to FIG. 1C, at the front end of the slider 60, thetongue part 66 a is formed to protrude for fixing the eject button 67.

[0189] In the slider 60, a retainer piece 66 b, which is engaged withthe engaging hole 67 c formed in the eject button 67, is formed so thatthe front end is obliquely raised by a pressing process. In the vicinityof the retainer piece 66 b, a punched hole 66 c, which is a secondopening, is formed.

[0190] The punched hole 66 c is formed at a position overlapping withthe engagement-cancellation part 67 e of the eject button 67 in a statethat the eject button 67 is attached to the slider 60. At the end of theslider 60 in the vicinity of the retainer piece 66 b, a raised-and-bentpart 66 d is formed. The raised-and-bent part 66 d has a function ofreinforcing the strength of the vicinity of the punched hole 66 c forforming the punched hole 66 c. As mentioned above, the projection 66 e,which is to be fitted into the fitting grooves 67 f of the eject button67, is formed in the slider 60.

[0191] Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, on the bottom wall 10 a of theframe 10, an operation hole log, which is a first opening, is formed.The operation hole 10 g is formed at a position respectively overlappingwith the above-mentioned engagement-cancellation part 67 e of the ejectbutton 67 and the punched hole 66 c of the slider 60. In the peripheralpart of the operation hole 10 g, a projection 10 h is formed todownwardly protrude by a pressing process (half-blanking process). Theprojection 10 h has a function of reinforcing the strength of thevicinity of the operation hole 10 g.

[0192] Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the lower cover 30 is provided witha bottom plate 30 a, a run-off hole 32 for the disk-drive-motor unit300, which is formed on the bottom plate 30 a, and a cut-out 32 a beinga third opening, which is communicated to the run-off hole 32. The notch32 a is formed at a position planarly overlapping with theengagement-cancellation part 67 e of the eject button 67, the punchedhole 66 c formed in the slider 60, and the operation hole 10 g formed onthe bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10. Thereby, the engagement-cancelingoperation of the eject button 67 can be performed from the back side ofthe lower cover 30.

[0193] Referring to FIG. 18, the above-mentioned eject button 67 isattached to the slider 60 in a state that the engaging hole 67 c isengaged with the retainer piece 66 b of the slider 60.

[0194] As described above, the engagement-cancellation part 67 e of theeject button 67 can be seen from the cut-out 32 a of the lower cover 30via the operation hole 10 g of the frame 10 and a run-off hole 4c of theslider 60. That is, by operating the eject button 67 from the back sideof the lower cover 30, the eject button 67 can be released from theslider 60.

[0195] That is, as shown in FIG. 18, in a state that only the frontpanel 50 is removed, by using an operating rod (not shown), which isslightly smaller than the operation hole 10 g in diameter, the externalsurface of the engagement-cancellation part 67 e of the eject button 67is pressed from the back side of the lower cover 30 via the cut-out 32 aof the lower cover 30, the operation hole 10 g of the frame 10, and therun-off hole 4 c of the slider 60.

[0196] Due to this operation, the engagement-cancellation part 67 edeflects upwardly, so that it gets over the tip end of the retainerpiece 66 b of the slider 60 so as to cancel the engagement. At thistime, by picking with fingers at the vicinity of the projections 67 a ofthe eject button 67 to pull out it, the eject button 67 can be easilyremoved from the slider 60. Therefore, when removing the eject button67, the upper cover 40 and the carrier 70 need not be removed.

[0197] The fabrication of the cut-out 32 a of the lower cover 30, theoperation hole 10 g of the frame 10, and the run-off hole 4 c of theslider 60 can be performed simultaneously with processing of theindividual members, the additional man-hour is not required so that itdoes not result in increased cost.

Open-and-Close Lever

[0198]FIGS. 19A and 19B are plan views of an open-and-close lever foropening and closing the shutter of the floppy desk.

[0199] The open-and-close lever 80 is rotatably supported on the bottomwall 10 a of the flame 10 with a shaft journaled by bearings while beingalways urged counterclockwise when viewing the drawing by a torsion coilspring 81. The open-and-close lever 80 has a cam 83 having the circularcam surface 83 a with center at a rotational shaft 82 and a pressingpart 84 for sliding the shutter 4, these which are formed integrally.

[0200] The cam surface 83 a is brought into and out of engagement withthe engaging projection 65 formed in the slider 60. That is, when thefloppy disk 1 is to be inserted, the pressing part 84 of theopen-and-close lever 80 is brought into engagement with one end of theshutter 4 as shown in FIG. 19A. At this time, the engaging projection 65formed in the slider 60 is brought into engagement with the cam surface83 a so that the forward movement is blocked.

[0201] When the floppy disk 1 is further pushed forward from this state,the open-and-close lever 80 is rotated clockwise when viewing thedrawing by being pushed with the front end of the case body 2 while thepressing part 84 of the open-and-close lever 80 pushes and opens theshutter 4 in the left when viewing the drawing so as to expose themagnetic-disk board 3 via the exposure opening 2 a, as shown in FIG.19B.

[0202] Then, the engagement between the engaging projection 65 formed inthe slider 60 and the cam surface 83 a is canceled, and as a result, dueto the urging force of the coil spring 68 (see FIG. 14), the slider 60moves forward. According to the movement of the slider 60, the carrier70 is moved downwardly so as to complete the loading of the floppy disk

Magnetic Head Unit

[0203]FIGS. 20A to 20D are drawings of the magnetic head unit.

[0204] The magnetic head unit 100, as shown in these drawings, comprisesa lower-head support member 111, called a carriage, for supporting alower magnetic head 110 and an upper-head support member 121 forsupporting an upper magnetic head 120.

[0205] In the lower-head support member 111, the lower magnetic head 110is mounted at the front end via a junction plate 112, and at the rearend, a base 113 for fixing the upper-head support member 121 isarranged.

[0206] As already described, the driven part 114 extends from one sideedge of the lower-head support member 111, and the driven part 114 isengaged with the screw 202 of the head driving mechanism 200 (see FIG.3). As shown in FIG. 20D, the other side edge of the lower-head supportmember 111 is provided with the guided part 116 having the through-hole116 a formed therein, into which the guide rod 203 is inserted, asdescribed above.

[0207]FIG. 21 is a bottom plan view of the upper-head support member;FIGS. 22 and 23 are side views of the upper-head support member.

[0208] At the front end of the upper-head support member 121, as shownin FIG. 21, the upper magnetic head 120 is mounted via a support spring122 called a ginbal spring. That is, the upper magnetic head 120 isfirmly fixed to the center of the support spring 122 and the peripheryof the support spring 122 is bonded on the bottom surface of theupper-head support member 121 at the front end with a UV adhesive (ultraviolet curable adhesive), etc.

[0209] From one side surface of the upper-head support member 121, apush-up lever 123 extends sideways, which is engaged with the edge ofthe cut-out 73 formed in the carrier 70, as shown in FIG. 15, so thatthe push-up lever 123 has a function of lifting the front end of theupper-head support member 121 (i.e., the upper magnetic head 120) inaccordance with the upward movement of the carrier 70.

[0210] From the other side surface of the upper-head support member 121,an auxiliary lever 124 extends sideways, which lightly comes in contactwith the carrier 70 in the state that the front end of the uppermagnetic head 120 is raised so as to suppress the vibration of theupper-head support member 121.

[0211] Furthermore, from both sides of the upper-head support member 121at the rear end, first and second legs 125 and 126 extend rearward. Thebottom surfaces at the rear ends of the first and second legs 125 and126 form respective rotational fulcrums 125 a and 126 a that arearranged so as to come in contact with the base 113 (see FIGS. 22 and23).

[0212] In the rear center of the upper-head support member 121, a leafspring member 130 is fixed with fasteners 131 such as screws and theleaf spring member 130 extends rearward by passing through theintermediate portion between the first and second legs 125 and 126.

[0213] The leaf spring member 130, as shown in FIGS. 24A to 24C, has asubstantial T-shape, in which a base 130 a extends in both sides and hasfastening holes 132 formed therein. On the top surface of the base 130 aof the leaf spring member 130, a fixing member 133 made of a metallicplate is overlapped while fasteners 134 such as screws are inserted intothe fastening holes 132 so as to be screwed into the base 113, therebyfixing the base 130 a of the leaf spring member 130 to the base 113 (seeFIG. 22).

[0214] Furthermore, the base 130 a of the leaf spring member 130 isprovided with a pair of pressing-spring parts 135 and 136 formedtherein, which are bent to be L-shaped. These pressing-spring parts 135and 136 have a function of restraining the legs 125 and 126 from risingfrom the base 113 by pressing the rear ends of the first and second legs125 and 126 arranged on the top surface of the base 113 from the upperside.

[0215] That is, even when an external force such as vibration is appliedto the upper-head support member 121, the rotational fulcrums 125 a and126 a of the first and second legs 125 and 126 are pressed and supportedby the pressing-spring parts 135 and 136 so that the excessive risingand displacements of the rotational fulcrums 125 a and 126 a can beprevented. As a result, there is no possibility that the upper magnetichead may shift during recording on and reproducing from a disk so as tosecure the stable recording and reproducing operation.

[0216] When the push-up lever 123 is raised in accordance with theupward movement of the carrier 70, the upper-head support member 121rotates about the rotational fulcrums 125 a and 126 a formed on thebottom surface of the first and second legs 125 and 126 at the rear end;however, at this time, the rising would be produced in the rotationalfulcrums 125 a and 126 a from the spring force of the leaf spring member130 alone.

[0217] Moreover, since the push-up lever 123 extends from one sidesurface of the upper-head support member 121, when the push-up lever 123is raised, a torsional torque is produced in the leaf spring member 130.When the torsion is produced in the leaf spring member 130 due to thetorsional torque, the first leg 125 formed on the same side as that ofthe push-up lever 123 is especially raised largely about the centralaxis of the upper-head support member 121, and there is a possibilitythat the upper magnetic head 120 may be thereby inclined. When the uppermagnetic head 120 is inclined, the entering floppy disk 1 interfereswith the upper magnetic head 120, so that either or both of them may bedamaged.

[0218] For such a problem, pressing the rotational fulcrums 125 a and126 a of the first and second legs 125 and 126 with the pressing-springparts 135 and 136 enables the rising of the rotational fulcrums 125 aand 126 a to be suppressed, resulting in the prevention of the problem.

[0219] In addition, when the push-up lever 123 is lifted, if therotational fulcrum 125 a of the first leg 125 is slightly raised fromthe base 113 due to the torsional torque applied to the leaf springmember 130 even when the first leg 125 is pressed and supported by thepressing-spring part 135, it is preferable that the inclination of theupper magnetic head 120 due to the rising be corrected by appropriatelyshifting the rotational fulcrum 126 a of the second leg 126 rearwardrelative to the position of the rotational fulcrum 125 a of the firstleg 125.

[0220] Also, the above-mentioned fixing member 133 is provided with afirst cover 133 a formed at a position corresponding to the rear end ofthe first leg 125 and a second cover 133 b formed at a positioncorresponding to the rear end of the second leg 126. These covers 133 aand 133 b cover the rear ends of the respective legs 125 and 126 fromthe further external peripheries of the pressing-spring parts 135 and136 so as to restrict the excessive rising of the rotational fulcrums125 a and 126 a from the base 113 due to a sudden impact.

[0221] Furthermore, on the base 113, as shown in FIG. 20C, a torsioncoil spring 115 is arranged, and the center of the top surface of theupper-head support member 121 is downwardly urged by the torsion coilspring 115. Due to the urging force by the torsion coil spring 115, theupper-head support member 121 is always urged in the direction that theend thereof descends.

Circuit Board

[0222]FIGS. 25A to 25D are drawings showing various types of circuitboards built in the disk drive apparatus according to the embodiment;FIG. 26A is a bottom plan view showing a state that the circuit boardsare mounted on the bottom plate of the frame; FIG. 26B is an enlargedfront view of the region II of FIG. 26A viewed in the arrow X direction;FIG. 26C is an enlarged front view of the region II of FIG. 26A viewedin the arrow Y direction; and further FIG. 27 is a plan view showing alayout of the circuit boards on a parent material.

[0223] In the disk drive apparatus according to the embodiment, as shownin FIGS. 25A to 25D, two types of circuit boards that are the sensorcircuit-board 410 and the main control-circuit-board 420 are mounted onthe bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 from the back side.

[0224] Among them, the sensor circuit-board 410 is a circuit board formounting various types of sensors; according to the embodiment, thesensor circuit-board 410 is provided with a switch(write-protect-detecting switch) 411 for detecting whether the floppydisk 1 inserted thereinto is write-protected or not, adisk-type-identifying switch 412 for identifying the type of floppy disk1 (2HD or 2DD), and a disk-insertion detecting switch 413 fordistinguishing whether the floppy disk 1 is properly inserted or not,these which are mounted thereon.

[0225] The sensor circuit-board 410, as shown in FIGS. 26A to 26C, ismounted at the front end of the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 alongthe front end edge. That is, the sensor circuit-board 410 is fixed onthe bottom wall 10 a by fastening only one portion of the board 410 withone fastener (a screw, for example). The fastening of one portion of thesensor circuit-board 410 with one fastener 415 in such a manner has aneffect to restrain the production of internal stress by allowing thedeformation of the board 410 to some extent. In particular, since thesensor circuit-board 410 is formed to be an elongated shape as shown inFIGS. 25B and 25D, it is liable to be damaged due to the production ofinternal stress, so that the above-mentioned mounting structure to theframe becomes effective.

[0226] Also, on the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10, as shown in FIGS.26B and 26C, projection pieces 10 e and 10 f for supporting the circuitboard (supporting parts for the circuit board) formed by cutting thebottom wall 10 a are formed at positions that both side edges of thesensor circuit-board 410 are arranged. Among them, the projection piece10 e is formed on the bottom wall 10 a by cut-up downward while theprojection piece 10 f is formed by bending the bottom wall 10 a to beL-shaped.

[0227] Both ends of the sensor circuit-board 410 are arranged betweenthe projection pieces 10 e and 10 f, respectively, and are supported byabutting the projection pieced 10 e. Between the L-shaped projectionpiece 10 f and the sensor circuit-board 410, a small clearance is formedand the board is flexible within the clearance.

[0228] In this arrangement, the write-protect-detecting switch 411 ismounted and fixed on the sensor circuit-board 410 at a position opposingthe write-protect detector 6 (see FIG. 35A) arranged in the enteringfloppy disk 1. Also, the disk-type-identifying switch 412 is similarlymounted and fixed on the sensor circuit-board 410 at a position opposingthe disk type-detector 8 (see FIG. 35A) arranged in the floppy disk 1.

[0229] The disk-insertion detecting switch 413 is mounted thereon nextto the write-protect-detecting switch 411 at the rear. In addition, onthe sensor circuit-board 410, together with these sensor switches 411,412, and 413, and LED 414 is mounted for displaying the driving state ofthe disk drive apparatus by light-emission.

[0230] On the other hand, on the main control-circuit-board 420, a maincontrol circuit in the disk drive apparatus is mounted, which has afunction of controlling the above-mentioned stepping motor 201 and thedisk-drive motor 303. The main control-circuit-board 420 is alsoprovided with an I/F (interface) male connector 421 a exposingconnection pins for connecting to external equipment, and a power supplyconnector 421 b for connecting to a power supply. To the I/F maleconnector 421 a, a female connector 430 for external equipment (referredto as an external female connector, below) is connected so as toelectrically connect to the external equipment with a female connectorcable 431.

[0231] The main control-circuit-board 420, as shown in FIG. 26A, isfixed on the rear back surface of the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10with screws, and is electrically connected via lead wire 422 to aterminal board 205 (see FIG. 3, for example) of the already mentionedstepping motor 201, the motor base-board 302, and the sensorcircuit-board 410. In addition, on the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10,as shown in FIG. 26A, there are hook-like lead-wire holders 20 a, 20 b,and 20 c formed by cutting out at appropriate positions for holding thelead wire 422 by hooking thereon, which connects between the maincontrol-circuit-board 420 and the sensor circuit-board 410.

[0232] By the way, FIG. 20D is an enlarged right side-view of the regionI of FIG. 20A; as shown FIG. 20D, the above-mentioned guided part 116 ofthe magnetic head unit 100 for inserting the guide rod 203 takes a shapeprotruding downwardly from a bottom surface 111 a. Then, on the bottomwall 10 a of the frame 10, a cut-out hole 25 is formed for avoiding theinterference with the guided part 116 (see FIGS. 4A and 4B). Theabove-mentioned lead-wire holder 20 a is formed by using a portioncut-out from the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 when forming thecut-out hole 25.

[0233] The lead-wire holder 20 c is also formed by cut-up from an edgeof the engaging hole 23 formed on the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10.The engaging hole 23, as mentioned above, is formed when forming aretainer 21 for retaining one end of the coil spring 68 by cut-up, andby using a portion cut-out from the engaging hole 23, the lead-wireholder 20 c is formed.

[0234] In the disk drive apparatus according to the embodiment, thesensor circuit-board 410 and the main control-circuit-board 420, asdescribed above, are constructed as separate circuit boards, so that theapparatus can be miniaturized, and positioning accuracies duringassembling are improved because processing errors of members and effectsby expansion and contraction are reduced compared with those when theboards 410 and 420 are integrally formed. Moreover, the degree ofpositioning freedom on the bottom wall 10 a of the frame 10 isincreased, enabling the flexible design of the apparatus.

[0235] For example, the sensor circuit-board 410 and the maincontrol-circuit-board 420 can be arranged at positions with differentheights, so that the interference with surrounding structural elementscan be readily avoided.

[0236] Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the sensorcircuit-board 410 and the main control-circuit-board 420 are formed inrespective shapes having substantially the same width and being close toa rectangle with small unevenness, so that in an economical layout withsmall waste, the sensor circuit-board 410 and the maincontrol-circuit-board 420 are configured from a parent material bycutting out.

[0237] That is, as shown in FIG. 27, the sensor circuit-board 410 andthe main control-circuit-board 420 having respective shapes withsubstantially the same width and being close to a rectangle are arrangedin the same width so as to adjoin each other in the front and rear,resulting in reduction of parent material waste to the utmost.

[0238] In the layout shown in FIG. 27, there is remained a portion to bescrapped indicated by A in the drawing, although which is small;however, from this portion, a small board such as the terminal board 205of the stepping motor 201 can be cut out so as to use the parentmaterial more efficiently.

Restricting Part of External Connector FIGS. 28 to 31 are drawings forshowing restricting parts of external connectors.

[0239] As mentioned above, the main control-circuit-board 420 isprovided with the I/F (interface) male connector 421 a exposingconnection pins for connecting to external equipment, and the powersupply connector 421 b for connecting to the power supply. To the I/Fmale connector 421 a, the external female connector 430 is attached soas to electrically connect to the external equipment with the femaleconnector cable 431 (see FIG. 2).

[0240] The external female connector 430 and the female connector cable431, as is understood also from FIG. 2, are connected together at asubstantial right angle to the insertion direction of the externalfemale connector 430, so that the female connector cable 431 is arrangedperpendicularly to the bottom surface of the external female connector430.

[0241] Then, according to the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 29, theoverall depth of the upper cover 40 is smaller than that of the lowercover 30, so that the I/F (interface) male connector 421 a, the powersupply connector 421 b, and the stepping motor 201 are exposed from theupper cover 40. Therefore, the assembling and adjusting operation of thestepping motor 201 can be simply performed in a large space.

[0242] However, since the surroundings of both the connectors 421 a and421 b are open spaces, when the external female connector 430 and apower supply plug (not shown) are respectively attached to both theconnectors 421 a and 421 b, there are possibilities of positionaldisplacements and miss-arrangements of the external female connector 430and the power supply plug.

[0243] Then, at ends of both the side walls 10 b of the frame 10,restricting parts 10 i are integrally formed, and when the externalfemale connector 430 and the power supply plug are attached to both theconnectors 421 a and 421 b, the positional displacements andmiss-arrangements are prevented with the restricting parts 10 i.

[0244] The restricting parts 10 i are located beside (in the lateraldirection) both the connectors 421 a and 421 b. Therefore, when theexternal female connector 430 and the power supply plug are attached toboth the connectors 421 a and 421 b, positional displacements in thelateral direction of the external female connector 430 and the powersupply plug are restricted with the restricting parts 10 i, so that theexternal female connector 430 and the power supply plug can be readilyattached to both the connectors 421 a and 421 b withoutmiss-arrangements.

[0245] Since the restricting parts 10 i having a function of preventingmiss-arrangements of external connectors, etc., are formed at ends ofboth the side walls 10 b of the frame 10, even when the end face of thelower cover 30 and the end face of the main control-circuit-board 420lie substantially on the same plane, the main control-circuit-board 420need not be cut-out.

[0246] Since the end face of the lower cover 30 and the end face of themain control-circuit-board 420 lie substantially on the same plane, whenthe external female connector 430 is attached to the I/F male connector421 a, the female connector cable 431 leading to the external femaleconnector 430 cannot float so that the external female connector 430 canbe securely attached to the I/F male connector 421 a.

[0247] In addition to the restricting parts 10 i formed in the frame 10,as means for preventing miss-arrangements of external connectors, etc.,as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, between the male connector 421 a and thepower supply connector 421 b, a restricting part 30 d is formed, whichrises at a substantially right angle from the bottom surface of thelower cover 30.

[0248] Therefore, with the restricting parts 10 i formed in the frame 10and the restricting part 30 d formed in the lower cover 30, theinstalling positions of the external female connector 430 and the powersupply plug (not shown) are restricted in both sides of the connectors421 a and 421 b, so that miss-arrangements of the external femaleconnector 430 and the power supply plug can be further securelyprevented.

[0249] In general, the positional relationship between the power supplyplug (not shown) to be installed to the power supply connector 421 b anda power supply cord extending therefrom is that different from theabove-mentioned I/F male connector 421 a, the power supply plug and thepower supply cord are connected together on substantially the same lineand in substantially the same direction relative to the insertingdirection of the power supply plug into the power supply connector 421b, so that there is no possibility that the power supply cord abuts theend face of the restricting part 30 d.

[0250] Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, a projection 6e isformed in the lower cover 30 having the restricting part 30 d of thepower supply connector 421 b formed therein so as to protrude outwardlyfrom the I/F male connector 421 a without any trouble. As a result, therestricting part 30 d can be formed without cutting-out the maincontrol-circuit-board 420.

[0251]FIG. 31 is a drawing showing a modified example of the means forpreventing miss-arrangements of external connectors, etc.

[0252] In the structure shown in the drawing, the restricting part 10 iis formed only in the side wall 10 b adjacent to the I/F male connector421 a in the frame 10. The prevention of miss-arrangements for the powersupply connector 421 b is achieved with the restricting parts 30 dformed in the lower cover 30. The restricting parts 30 d are formed inboth lateral sides of the power supply connector 421 b.

[0253] As described above, since the positional relationship between thepower supply plug (not shown) to be installed to the power supplyconnector 421 b and the power supply cord extending therefrom is thatdifferent from the above-mentioned I/F male connector 421 a, the powersupply plug and the power supply cord are connected together onsubstantially the same line and in substantially the same directionrelative to the inserting direction of the power supply plug into thepower supply connector 421 b, the restricting part 30 d of the lowercover 30 can be protruded outwardly from the end face of the circuitboard (the circuit board need not be cut-out). Therefore, therestriction of miss-arrangements for the power supply connector 421 bcan also be performed with only the restricting part 30 d of the lowercover 30.

Protecting Cover of Stepping Motor, etc.

[0254]FIGS. 32A to 34 are drawings showing another structural exampleassociated with upper and lower covers; FIG. 32A is a plan view of theupper cover; FIG. 32B is a side view of the upper cover; FIG. 32C is afront view of the upper cover; FIG. 33A is a plan view of the lowercover; FIG. 33B is a side view of the lower cover; FIG. 33C is a frontview of the lower cover; and FIG. 34 is a drawing of a disk driveapparatus viewed from the rear side.

[0255] In the structural example shown in the drawings, at the rear endof the upper cover 40, a protecting cover 41 is formed. The protectingcover 41 is configured so as to cover the stepping motor 201, lead wire201 a, and a terminal base board 201 b. In addition, the lead wire 201 ais connection members for electrically connecting the stepping motor 201and the main control-circuit-board 420 together.

[0256] The protecting cover 41 is integrally formed with the upper cover40 in such a manner that the protecting cover 41 extends from the rearend-edge 40 a of the upper cover 40 while being downwardly bent at asubstantially right angle in an L-shape.

[0257] In association with the protecting cover 41, wherein theprotruding length from the rear end-edge 40 a is a; the bent height isb; and the bent width is c, the protruding length a is set tosubstantially coincide with that of a raised edge of the rear end of thelower cover 30, which will be described later. The bent height b is setto substantially coincide with positions, at which the protecting cover41 abuts clamping tongue-pieces 30 e, 30 f, and 30 g formed in theraised edge of the rear end of the lower cover 30. Furthermore, the bentwidth c is set to avoid the positions of screws 201 c so as tofacilitate the assembling and adjusting operation of the stepping motor201.

[0258] As shown in FIGS. 33A to 33C, on the bottom surface of the frame10, the lower cover 30 is mounted, and in a raised edge 30 d formed atthe rear end of the lower cover 30, three comb-teeth-like clampingtongue-pieces 30 e, 30 f, and 30 g are formed. In addition, the raisededge 30 d is formed so as to avoid portions opposing an I/F maleconnector 13 and a power-supply connector 14.

[0259] Among them, bottom parts of the both sides clamping tongue-pieces30 e and 30 g are bent so as to form clearances to the central clampingtongue-pieces 30 f slightly larger than those equivalent to the platethickness. The width occupied by the clamping tongue-pieces 30 e, 30 f,and 30 g is set to be substantially the same as the bent width c of theprotecting cover 40 formed in the upper cover 41 described above.

[0260] Referring to FIG. 34, one end of the protecting cover 41 formedin the upper cover 40 is engaged and clamped with the clampingtongue-pieces 30 e, 30 f, and 30 g formed in the lower cover 30, and theprotecting cover 41 covers the stepping motor 201, the terminal baseboard 201 b, and the lead wire 201 a. The screws 201 c for assemblingand adjusting the stepping motor 201 are out of the region of theprotecting cover 41 so as to enable to be operated from the sidesurfaces of the upper and lower covers 5 and 6. Furthermore, since theupper parts of the I/F male connector 421 a and the power supplyconnector 421 b are exposed outside from the rear end of the upper cover40, positions of the both connectors 412 a and 412 b can be confirmedfrom the outside.

[0261] In addition, the protecting cover 41 for the stepping motor mayalso be formed separately from the upper cover 40. The lower cover 30may also be provided with a protecting cover.

[0262] Furthermore, the stepping motor 201 and the maincontrol-circuit-board 420 may not be directly connected together withlead wire but terminals of the stepping motor 201 may be connected to anFPC (flexible printed circuit), which in turn is connected to the leadwire.

[0263] According to the structure described above, the stepping motor201, the terminal base board 201 b, and the lead wire 201 a areprotected with the protecting cover 41, so that even when to the I/Fmale connector 421 a and the power supply connector 421 b arranged inthe vicinity of the stepping motor 201, the external female connector430 and the power supply plug (not shown) are respectively connected,there are no possibility of damaging the stepping motor 201, theterminal base board 201 b, and the lead wire 201 a. Therefore,mal-connection between the stepping motor 201 and the maincontrol-circuit-board 420 can be avoided.

[0264] Also, since the protecting cover 41 covers only the vicinity ofthe stepping motor 201, the assembly, adjustment, and connection to theconnectors 421 a and 42 b of the stepping motor 201 can be performedwithout any hindrance.

Industrial Applicability

[0265] As described above, improvements according to the presentinvention in the horizontal guide mechanism and vertical guide mechanismfor restricting the movement of the slider simplify the structure andreduce fabricating cost, and furthermore enable the degree of freedom ofthe disk drive apparatus to be increased.

1. A disk drive apparatus comprising: a frame having a frame bottomsurface and frame side walls which rise from both sides of the framebottom surface; a slider having a slider bottom surface and slider sidewalls which rise from both sides of the slider bottom surface; a carrierwhich holds a disk and which is supported by the slider so as to movablein the vertical direction; and a horizontal guide mechanism and avertical guide mechanism, which are arranged between the frame and theslider for slidably guiding the slider, wherein the horizontal guidemechanism comprises an engaging piece disposed in at least one of theframe and the slider, and an engaging hole which is disposed in theother and which is engaged with the engaging piece, and wherein the oneof the frame and the slider that has the engaging piece formed thereinis made of a metallic sheet material and the engaging piece is made bybending a part of the metallic sheet material.
 2. An apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the engaging hole comprises a plurality of guideparts for restricting the movement of the engaging piece in at least twohorizontal directions except the sliding direction of the slider.
 3. Anapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the engaging piece is engagedwith the guide parts on both surfaces of the metallic sheet material sothat the movement of the engaging piece in at least two horizontaldirections is restricted.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 3, whereinthe engaging piece comprises an extending part in the thicknessdirection of the metallic sheet material for adjusting clearances to theplurality of guide part.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, whereinthe slider comprises a pressable eject button mounted thereon, and theengaging hole and the engaging piece are arranged in the vicinity of theeject button.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engaginghole is formed on the frame bottom surface and the engaging piece isformed on the slider bottom surface.
 7. An apparatus according to claim1, further comprising an urging member for urging the slider, whereinthe frame is provided with an urging-member retainer formed from theframe by cut-up for retaining the urging member, and wherein theengaging hole is formed in the frame so as to continue from an openingformed when the urging-member retainer is formed by cut-up.
 8. Anapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical guide mechanism isarranged between the frame side wall and the slider side wall.
 9. A diskdrive apparatus comprising: a frame having a frame bottom surface andframe side walls which rise from both sides of the frame bottom surface;a slider having a slider bottom surface and slider side walls which risefrom both sides of the slider bottom surface; a carrier which holds adisk and which is supported by the slider so as to be movable in thevertical direction; and a horizontal guide mechanism and a verticalguide mechanism, which are arranged between the frame and the slider forslidably guiding the slider, wherein the horizontal guide mechanismcomprises an engaging hole disposed on the frame bottom surface and anengaging piece which is disposed in the slider and which is engaged withthe engaging hole, wherein the frame is provided with a positioningpart, formed by cut-up for positioning and supporting the disk, andwherein the engaging hole is formed so as to continue from an openingformed when the positioning part is formed by cut-up.
 10. An apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the slider is made of a metallic sheetmaterial and the engaging piece is made by bending part of the metallicsheet material.
 11. A disk drive apparatus comprising: a frame having aframe bottom surface and frame side walls which rise from both sides ofthe frame bottom surface; a slider having a slider bottom surface andslider side walls which rise from both sides of the slider bottomsurface; a carrier which holds a disk and is supported by the slidermovably in the vertical direction; and a horizontal guide mechanism anda vertical guide mechanism, which are arranged between the frame and theslider for slidably guiding the slider, wherein the vertical guidemechanism is formed between the frame side wall and the slider sidewall, and the horizontal guide mechanism is formed between the framebottom surface and the slider bottom surface.
 12. An apparatus accordingto claim 11, wherein the vertical guide mechanism comprises a groovedisposed on the frame side wall and an engaging part disposed on theslider side wall so as to be engaged with the groove.
 13. An apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein the horizontal guide mechanism comprisesan engaging hole formed on the frame bottom surface and an engagingpiece disposed on the slider bottom surface so as to be engaged with theengaging hole.
 14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein theslider is made of a metallic sheet material while the engaging piece ismade by bending part of the metallic sheet material.